


woke up in my clothes having dreamt of you

by benditlikepress



Category: NCIS
Genre: F/M, I… apologise to anyone who knows anything about geography nature flooding the water cycle etc, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Tight Spaces, this may be my most self-indulgent work yet, tivatober2020, trapped in a confined space
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:35:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27044365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/benditlikepress/pseuds/benditlikepress
Summary: Tony and Ziva get stuck in the car overnight while trying to visit a flooded crime scene.
Relationships: Ziva David/Anthony DiNozzo
Comments: 10
Kudos: 31





	woke up in my clothes having dreamt of you

**Author's Note:**

> i did some cursory googling but i'm not american and my knowledge of the parks is limited at best so pls use your imagination. my geography and weather knowledge is also average on a good day so if anything related to flooding sounds like bullshit, believe me it is xxxx
> 
> title is from heat wave by snail mail

"’ **Let's take a quick look before we head home’**." 

Ziva imitated Tony’s earlier words and he sighed heavily. They'd been out conducting interviews all afternoon and evening, and Tony had thought it might be a good idea to check a witness story against the location of the murder while it was still fresh in their mind. 

What he hadn't anticipated, of course, was getting caught in a flash flood while trying to get through the national park. They sat stationary in the car at the top of a small hill, looking down at what was more a river than a road in front of them. Behind wasn’t much better, and they’d battled through mud and spinning tyres in the last few hundred metres of the journey.

“C’mon, this is _not_ my fault.”

“No? Who’s is it, then?”

“It was _you_ who told me to carry on after the rangers hut.”

Ziva was silent then, and she nodded her head in consideration rather than agreement. “I admit, I may have miscalculated.”

“ **’I’m a trained navigator, Tony’**.”

“I am, _Tony_. But I do not need a certificate to tell you that there is no way we are getting down this road any time soon.”

“Let’s just.. calm down.” Tony took a deep breath and smiled cordially at Ziva, which only seemed to exasperate her more. “Get me the number for that ranger McGee spoke to, I’ll tell them what’s happening.”

“What are you going to say – look out the window?”

“Someone got up on the wrong side of bed this morning.”

“I did, yes. That is the whole problem. I have barely slept for 48 hours and here you are sending us on wild moose chases!”

He didn’t correct her, instead taking the phone she offered to him and pulling up the message from McGee with the ranger’s details.

“Well, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry. But really this is climate change’s fault, not mine.”

“OK, I will be sure to let them know.” Ziva’s tone quickly gave way to the slight concealment of an amused smile, which she tried to cover with the back of her hand.

Tony undid his seatbelt and turned in his seat to look out of the back windshield. The path they’d forged through the muddied road on the way through was covered in tyre tracks and skid marks. He sighed as he settled back into his seat, dialling the number from Ziva’s phone.

“Hello, Ranger Roberts?”

“Hi, this is Special Agent DiNozzo with NCIS.”

“Agent DiNozzo, you’re not still out at the scene are you?”

“No, but we’re on our way back and we’ve got stuck. The road is completely underwater and I don’t think we can turn around.”

“Just one moment please, Agent DiNozzo.” He heard the ranger engage in a discussion with someone else. “I don’t think we’re going to be able to get out to you right now, the roads are treacherous around the hillside where we’re stationed. I think you’re gonna have to sit tight, and as soon as the rain starts to ease up we’ll be with you. Which road did you say this was? We haven’t heard anything about it yet.”

“Uh… River Edge Road. Ironically.” Tony recalled, and Ziva rolled her eyes.

“Alright, thanks very much for telling us. Are you safe where you are in your car?”

“Yeah, we’re on top of the hill kind of under trees. The ground isn’t flooded around us.”

“We’ll be with you as soon as we can, Agent DiNozzo.”

“Alright, thanks.”

Tony hung up his phone and pocketed it, making a noise of boredom with his mouth.

“Stay here?”

“Yup. Until the rain eases up, she said a couple of hours.”

“Thank goodness I don’t have plans.” Ziva seemed to have calmed to the situation, though Tony still sensed a little anxiety radiating around her. He watched as she scratched at a loose piece of fabric on her jacket. She wasn’t usually much one for fiddling.

“Well, hopefully we can get out of here soon so you can get some sleep. I didn’t realise how late you ended up staying last night.”

She hummed, and then turned to him with a lighter tone. “Do you need to call anyone?”

“Like who?” He thought, briefly, that if he were stuck here with anyone else he’d probably call Ziva to let her know. He wondered if she was thinking the same about him.

“Hot date?”

“Hah.” Tony chuckled at the assumption, more amused at it than self-deprecating. Her eyes were a little wide, expectantly. “No, that was last night.”

“Ah. Of course.”

They both knew he was lying, of course: that he hadn’t done much dating at all in the last few months, actually. Whether Ziva knew the reason for it or not, he couldn’t be sure. But then they’d never been very good at stating out loud what it was they already knew.

“What about you?”

“I had a new book I was hoping to start tonight if I got home at a reasonable hour.”

“A book and an early night? You need locking up, David.”

“Sometimes after a day with you I need the peace and quiet.”

“Sometimes I think you protest too much.”

Ziva raised her eyebrows at him with a smile as she took a sip from his old cup of coffee, wincing at the presumably cold taste. “Cannot have you getting too comfortable.”

“Is that what it is? Keeping me on my toes?”

“Perhaps. Or maybe it is just that you talk when you are bored, and I engage with you to pass the time.”

“So you annoy me when you’re bored, huh? Like a kid?”

“I am not sure I used the word _annoy_.”

“I think it was implied.”

“I suppose it is fair – the feeling being mutual.”

“Right. Sure. You’re still lying, but that’s fine.”

Ziva hit him on the chest with a chuckle that soon turned into a yawn. 

* * *

When the rain subsided to what might just be called a heavy downpour, a ranger wearing several coats that obscured their face jogged over to the car. 

Tony unlocked the back doors and pointed at them to let themselves in. 

"Thanks. Agent DiNozzo?" The ranger pulled down her hoods as she shut the door tightly. He recognised her from the crime scene yesterday.

"Yeah, this is David." 

“Sorry, looks like this is it for the foreseeable. The road ahead is a complete no-go, there’s an issue with mud sliding. The road back isn’t much better, and I’m worried about how you’re getting this car to turn around on the road as it is now. I’m not going back myself now, I’m heading downhill to see what needs fixing down there. Could be an all-night job.”

“So what’s the plan?”

“Sit tight. Couple of hours, it should start to drain so long as it continues to ease up.”

She opened the backpack on her back and pulled out a couple of raincoats matching her own. They were hugely oversized, and bright green. Next, she pulled out a couple of bottles of water and a handful of bars.

“There are bathroom facilities about a ¼ mile back down the road you just came from.”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“You guys need anything else?”

“No, I think we are OK. We will be fine.”

Tony nodded his agreement with Ziva, and the ranger said her goodbyes and jumped back out of the car and into the storm.

“Fantastic.” Ziva’s tone changed now they were alone again, tired and resigned. “What now?”

"I think this is the part where you start to annoy me." 

"I am glad to have the permission." 

"Hey, I'll be glad of the distraction. Who knows what kind of predators are in these woods at night?" Tony's voice was a little dramatic as he said it, and when he met Ziva's eyes he expected to find irritation rather than the sudden flash of something more panicked. She blinked it away quickly. 

"Hey, Ziva, I'm kidding. Hey," he used his finger to hook onto the sleeve of her jacket, where it sat on her wrist, "it's gonna be fine. It's just a couple of hours."

"I know that. I am being ridiculous." She shook her head but didn't move her arm a muscle, keeping them connected. Tony thought back again to that day locked in the container: how fear had mixed with frustration and anger, as much as she'd tried to deny it. It was a strange dichotomy, compared to how fearless she always was. Though perhaps that was what it was – Tony knew what could happen if things got bottled up. 

"I wouldn't say it's ridiculous." 

"I'm fine, really. I am just frustrated. And tired, I think you are probably right." 

"Yeah?" 

"Yes." 

"'Kay. Good. Because if you were gonna be upset then I was gonna have to be comforting, and nobody wants to see that." 

Ziva laughed and squeezed his finger before he withdrew his hand from her wrist. "No, I am sure we don't." 

"Right. Entertainment. That's what we need." 

"Oh god, Tony, those words fill me with dread." 

"You just stop being such a cynic, alright? Here, I've got one for you. Best car chase scene." 

"You have made me watch so many, they all roll into one." 

"C'mon. Humour me." 

"OK, but the first mention of Jack Nicholson and you are playing games on your phone while I write up these interviews." 

"Deal." 

* * *

Tony's phone was down to 30% battery after just over half an hour playing games, and he figured he better turn it off to preserve the rest in case of an emergency. 

He placed his phone in the empty drink holder and shifted in his seat to face Ziva, who was looking out of the windshield with barely concealed irritation. As if on cue, she lifted her fingers to the bridge of her nose and squeezed the corners of her eyes.

"Why don't you close your eyes?" 

"I would prefer to be aware of what's going on." 

"C'mon, Ziva. I don't think we're getting out of here anytime soon. You didn't get enough sleep last night." 

The comment seemed to surprise Ziva, sincere as it was, and she blinked. 

"I am fine, Tony, really." 

"Alright, suit yourself. You want the radio on?" 

"Sure." 

He knew she could be stubborn when she was tired, which usually led to a refusal to admit she was until she fell asleep. So, Tony turned on the radio. He flicked through channels until he found his favourite oldies station, and relaxed back into the seat as Billie Holiday started to play.

He closed his eyes as he listened, jazz vibrating around the car against the sound of the rain pouring down on metal, and before too long he felt eyes watching him.

“What?” Tony opened one eye and met Ziva’s gaze.

“You really are not bothered by this?”

“Can’t change it now. May as well enjoy ourselves.”

Surprisingly she seemed to accept that, and shrugged. “I will give it a shot, but it is not exactly my idea of a good time.”

“Yeah, it happens. Here I was, trying to take you on a picnic.”

“To the site of the triple murder?”

“That’s _not_ your idea of a good time?” Ziva was smiling affectionately at him again without warning, the type of gesture that made her look younger than she was and caused Tony’s chest to warm. “Just close your eyes, Ziva.” He said in a quieter voice.

“What are you going to do – hypnotise me?”

“No, Miss Holiday is gonna sing you to sleep.”

Ziva looked as though she was about to object and then stopped herself, a smile in her eyes as she closed them. She rested her head back against the seat mimicking Tony’s movements, and he closed his own eyes again.

"Your music taste is your saviour in a situation like this. Imagine if it was Abby controlling the radio." 

"I have a headache just thinking about it." 

“Putting up with your rambling is an interesting trade-off, though.”

"You just be thankful we're not stuck in here with Gibbs. Y’know he thought about coming with us." 

Ziva laughed, a deep and hearty sound. "Trapped in this car all night? I am not sure how long either of you would last." 

"Hey, I'm a great person to be in a confined space with." 

"Is that so?" Her tone was lighter now and a little flirtatious. Tony opened his eye and cocked his head, finding her looking at him with her eyebrows raised. 

"You spent 12 hours in a shipping container with me, you tell me." 

"I think I block that out, actually." 

“I should be the one doing that, you nearly shot my head off. Not exactly how you should be endearing yourself to your new colleagues.”

“Well, you nearly killed me with smoke inhalation. I think we are even.”

* * *

The music on the radio got slower as time went on, an acknowledgement of the late hour. Tony was sure he saw Ziva’s eyes droop a couple of times, but each time they re-opened and she began a new conversation with him. As the clock struck 11pm, Tony’s back and legs had well and truly begun to seize up in his seat. He stretched his arms a little in the air and wiggled his head from side to side.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah – yeah.” Tony repeated as he rolled his neck. His fingers ached from holding the steering throughout the endless travel of the 48 hours, and he flexed them while he arched his back.

“Your back?”

“My everything.”

“I am not sure what I can do about your _everything_..” Ziva trailed off with a raise of her left eyebrow, before grabbing one of his hands and pulling it towards her. He watched as she pressed at the joints, using her thumbs to make circular movements along his palms. Her hands were warm and smooth, her focus unexpected. When she turned his hand over and began to work along the back of it, her dipped head turned upwards and her eyes caught in his. There was a little tension in the air between them that made Tony swallow as she pressed at his hand, staring into his eyes.

Eventually she looked down again, leaving Tony watching the top of her head and her hands while she pushed the pain away.

“Thanks.” Tony offered, his voice quieter than he’d been expecting, when she released his hand. She put her own back in her lap. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom before the path back gets flooded." 

“OK.”

“You wanna come?”

“That is a very enticing offer, but I am going to pass.” Ziva stretched her own arms in front of her and made a noise of tired discomfort. Tony picked up one of the raincoats the ranger had given him earlier and began to pull his arms into it.

“Sure? Good to stretch the legs.”

“I would rather sit here stiff and dry than stiff and wet.”

"Fair enough. Keep the doors closed." 

"I am an assassin, Tony." 

"Alright, well good luck pinning a waterfall up against a wall." Ziva rolled her eyes as Tony fastened the waterproof jacket tightly around him, doing the zip up to just over his chin. "How do I look?" 

"Ridiculous.”

“No different to normal, then.” Tony grinned as he opened the door and braced for impact. Ziva watched him with a smile, shaking her head as he jumped out of the car and began to run back down the hill towards the bathrooms.

The rain was no longer biblical, but it _was_ torrential and Tony could feel his work shoes slipping on the ground as he jogged back down the road towards the bathrooms. By the time he reached them the front of his hair was plastered to his head where it was visible under the hood, and he was grateful for the voluminous size of the coat meaning all of his top half and most of his trousers had stayed dry.

He hung the coat on the back of the door of the hut, shaking his hair dry. Enjoying the calm and quiet of the inside, Tony took his time. He used the bathroom, splashed water over his face redundantly, and brushed his teeth a little with his finger. Spent a minute or so longer than necessary drying his shoes with tissues and then stuffing some into the pockets of his coat to do the same when he got back to the car. Fastening the coat back on lazily but carefully, taking his time.

His journey back to the car was quicker now he knew the distance, feet striding through puddles and hopping over mud.

He unlocked the car when he was still a hundred feet away, giving himself as much preparation as possible so as not to have to hesitate when he got to the door. He practically threw it open, removing the coat and sitting down and closing the door in one swift motion. He turned to Ziva to acknowledge the feat, and stopped in his tracks when he saw her eyes were tightly shut.

Ziva was usually a light sleeper, woken by a person tripping on the pavement 3 blocks away, so he was almost certain she was not quite asleep still after his dramatic entrance. Still, he placed the coat on the backseat as quietly as he could, careful not to jostle her.

Before returning to his seat, he recalled a bag in the footwell behind him. He stretched his arm carefully and pulled it out, opening the zip with his hand covering the noise. The longer it went on, the more he became convinced Ziva was actually still asleep and not just trying to return there, and he relaxed a little in his cramped movements.

The emergency supplies in the car had originally been Ziva's idea (no doubt remnants of her lifetime-movie worthy childhood with Eli). He pulled the blanket out from the bottom of the pack and shook it out over the back seat carefully, removing remnants of dirt and dust from it as the rain continued to fall outside. He managed to get back down with it into his seat, by some miracle, without waking Ziva. 

He placed the blanket over her gently, tucking it into her side closest to him and laying it fully over herself and the seat on the side he couldn't reach. Her head was turned towards him, and he watched the little frown between her eyebrows as she snored lightly.

It wasn't cold outside even with the rain, and so Tony kept the engine off and pulled the dry ranger jacket over himself as his own version of a blanket.

He tried to close his eyes, but soon opened them again. The sound of the rain wasn’t as relaxing as it was on a tape, and there were floodlights visible in the distance. He could hear animals high up in the trees, clear as anything, and questioned internally whether they ever slept before remembering the concept of nocturnality and swiftly stopping that thought. 

With nothing else to do, he found his eyes drifting back to Ziva every couple of seconds. There was a piece of hair that had fallen into her face and when he breathed it blew across her lips, back and forth. She must’ve been tired to fall asleep so quickly.

He knew Ziva rarely indulged him worrying about her, but it was a habit he'd stopped trying to break a long time ago. He watched her carefully, looking for any sign of upset or a bad dream, but found none. He remembered how she'd been after Somalia - coming into work with bags under her eyes that she covered with makeup, only becoming pronounced after showering. One or two references to nightmares, other sleep-related issues that he'd paid attention to but had struggled to come up with a solution to. Outside of Paris, that is, when he'd taken the opportunity to allow her to sleep all night wrapped tightly in his arms, and he'd felt her breathing against his chest for an hour before he'd got to sleep. 

He supposed that was why he was observing her now: it was the type of thing that _would_ concern you, a memory that's hard to shake. But, as it went, it seemed this was a pretty standard over-running case mixed with long travel that had left her with barely time to stumble into bed. 

Ziva began moving and Tony opened his mouth to explain why he was watching her, but when his eyes moved to her face he saw she was seemingly still asleep as she turned onto her side and curled her legs up onto the seat. She was facing him fully now, knees tucked up in front of her.

The proximity now she’d moved had increased, and as he felt his own tiredness grow he thought about other times he'd fallen asleep next to her. Airplanes. Hotel rooms. Her apartment, a few times, a long time ago. It made sense that it was Paris his mind always flashed back to. A cliché routine for a cliché situation, finding themselves reconnecting there after months of uncertainty in the face of Michael Rivkin. He'd woken up to her watching him sleep, that night, and she'd made a joking comment that she knew he'd been doing the same. The smile on her face then, innocent and new, flashed behind his eyes as he watched her now. How things had changed now would've seemed impossible back then. He really thought with the Rivkin affair he'd lost her for good. 

And now here she was, feeling safe enough to curl up in his presence. 

The rain was down to a trickle now, the kind Tony would hesitate to turn on his wipers for. It didn’t take long for him to see one of the ranger vehicles lights flash in the distance, and the coat-ed figure of Ranger Roberts making her way towards them in rubber boots.

Tony wound down his window for her, smiling a little as she approached. The ranger looked across him at Ziva asleep, curled on her side, and ducked down lower to meet his face. 

"Sorry, Agent DiNozzo," her voice was quiet, "the road's completely blocked off. Good news is the rain's subsiding, so we should be able to get you through in your vehicle or one of ours in a couple of hours." 

"A couple of hours?" 

"First light. All going to plan." The ranger tacked on the end with something of a cheerful smile, suggesting Tony's tone wasn't as polite as he'd tried to make it. “Now, we can try and get you back out onto the main road the way you came but it’s pretty treacherous. A lot of it’s gonna have to be on foot. If you guys are alright here, then it’s less risky to stay put.”

“We’re good.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Tony sighed and shifted in his seat, attempting a smile to seem more friendly than he was likely coming across. His legs were starting to hurt now too.

“Alright. Maybe you should get some sleep too, nobody else will be through here now. We’re all down the hill.”

“Thanks.”

He watched with tired eyes as the ranger disappeared again out of sight, stretching his limbs one by one in the confined space while being careful not to jostle his partner curled up in the next seat.

He fumbled around for the seat controller and turned his backwards until he was closer to lying flat. He hesitated over doing the same to Ziva, but could only imagine her reaction if she woke up to find herself being turned through the air.

Once he was settled down underneath the window, he lay flat on his back and stared at the patterns on the ceiling until he finally felt his eyes drifting closed.

* * *

Tony woke up slowly with a persistent thudding next to his ear. His head reverberated and he opened his eyes in confusion until he saw the dashboard of the car and remembered where he was. Through the window, a different park ranger to the one they'd spoken to last night was looking at him apologetically. 

He wiped the sides of his mouth self-consciously and rolled down the window, rising slowly so he was sat up on his reclined seat. 

"Sorry, agent. Hannah let me know the situation. We're looking to clear the road now the flooding has started to subside, so you guys are gonna have to pull over to let the heavy vehicles through. If you bear with us a couple of minutes, Ranger Martinez will come along and he’ll be able to take you down to the picnic area if you ask him. Though I’m not sure how much there’s gonna be to look at.”

“Alright, thank you.” The ranger tipped his hat as Tony rolled up the window, and he began to pull his seat upright.

Ziva hadn’t stirred next to him, although the quiet rather than heavy breathing typically meant she was at least partially awake.

"You awake, Mike Waters?" 

"Who?" 

Tony turned in his now-upright seat to face her. There was hair plastered to the side of her face where it had been pressed against the headrest all night, and she ruffled it with a frown. "You ever see that movie? River Phoenix. He had narcolepsy." 

"River Phoenix?" 

"No, the character. I mean, he could have done, I didn't know the guy. What are we talking about?" Tony frowned and shook his head. 

"Did anything change overnight?" Ziva looked down at the blanket wrapped around her for the first time.

"No.." Tony spoke a little slower as he watched her acknowledge the blanket, before snapping back to reality. "You passed out when I was outside. Hannah came by a little later, said at first light they should be able to get us through either in this or one of their vehicles. And here we are." 

In the following silence Ziva fingered the blanket.

"Thank you." Ziva's voice was tired and a little nervous, maybe, as she slowly peeled the blanket from her. 

"No problem." Tony nodded a tight-lipped smile and suddenly the car felt much smaller than it was as she leaned between their seats to place it behind them. Her arm pressed against him heavily.

"How long was I asleep?" 

Tony turned the key in the ignition to check the time. "Maybe 5 hours." 

" _Five_?" Ziva repeated with surprise, stretching her neck. "You snored." 

"Yeah, sure I did. You're one to talk." 

"You should have woken me up." 

“Eh..” Tony trailed off, not sure whether he should be as truthful as to admit that he didn’t have the heart to wake her up when she looked so peaceful. She frowned at him, but the lines disappeared again quickly.

“Are the bathrooms still open?”

“I guess so. They were last night.”

She stretched her arms next, elongating them in front of them reaching towards the windscreen and interlocking her fingers. “I am not sure I can bring myself to go outside yet.”

“Rain’s been stopped for a while, by the looks of it. At least you’ve got boots on – I think my shoes are still wet.”

Ziva's arm moved backwards and her hand made contact with Tony's shoulder. He thought it incidental until it moved inwards, her knuckles grazing his chest and eventually stopping. She tapped it absently a couple of times. Their eyes met and he could see tiredness mixing with something more sincere and purposeful. A smile played on her lips.

"Thank you. For last night. I think I was just tired, but I appreciate it." 

"Don't mention it." 

"Even so. Thank you. I am not sure I should call being trapped in a car in the forest all night fun, but it was." 

"We'll have to do it again sometime." He smiled at her, teeth showing, and her eyes narrowed playfully.

"Absolutely. When I am talking to be big bosses about climate change, I will let them know you are open to the occasional downpour." 

"Just once in a while. Keep things interesting." 

Ziva smiled and the back of her hand on his chest stilled for a moment. 

Tony’s eyes drifted downwards to watch her hand as it flipped palm-to-skin, her fingers running a couple of inches up and down his sleep-crinkled shirt. When he looked back up to meet her face, she seemed to have moved a little towards him. So minute, it would’ve been barely noticeable for anyone who didn’t end up watching her most of the time.

Her eyes flicked down to his mouth and time slowed as Tony’s mind raced trying to keep up with what was happening. He licked his lips. Leaned a couple of inches towards her. Her hand stilled again.

A car horn beeped. Ziva’s eyes snatched away from him, and after a stilted exhale Tony’s followed. The male ranger was signalling from his vehicle, motioning at Tony to pull over.

It almost felt like a cosmic joke: the second one of them even contemplated something going further, something immediately got in the way. A case, or a personal issue, or a boyfriend calling after weeks of radio silence, or a car horn literally forcing them to look away. Tony couldn't help but laugh, light-hearted acknowledgement of their propensity for bad timing. Ziva smiled back, tilting her head a little with her eyes shining. No hint of a quick movement away, or attempt to deny. Tony thought, sometimes, they'd left those instincts behind a long time ago. 

“That’s my cue.” He exhaled as Ziva nodded, a knowing but amused expression on her face.

Tony turned the keys in the ignition and slowly started to move, feeling his heart racing in his chest as Ziva recovered more quickly and began to guide him around mud patches and into a space on the side of the road. He turned off the engine again, leaving them in silence.

“I should..” Ziva signalled outside and Tony lifted his arm as if to give her permission, lowering it again awkwardly.

She opened the door, her eyes still boring into his, and stepped her feet out of the car. The frown on her face was immediate, and the moment was broken as she turned away to look out of the now open door.

"Tony, have you seen what you have parked up against?" 

Tony climbed over to poke his head over Ziva's lap. Below the car door was a several inches deep puddle, surrounded by the type of wet mud that caked everything for days. 

"Ah."

"Sit back down, I will climb over you." 

"I... alright." Tony sat back down in his seat, back straight. 

Ziva turned so she was facing her chair perpendicular and pulled the ranger’s jacket on though the rain had stopped hours ago. The sleeves hung far down beneath her hands and she rolled them up a little, though it was a fool’s errand.

Tony watched with fascination as she began to clamber over the central area of the car and inhaled, trying to remain stoic as she flung her leg over him and straddled him without ceremony.

"Excuse me." Ziva said, more of an apology than a request Tony could do nothing about.

Their faces were inches apart as she slid along his lap, and his gaze flickered down to her lips. They were wet, as though she’d just licked them, and Tony drew his eyes away quickly upwards to her own. They were hooded and dark.

It was around this point that Tony realised Ziva could easily have exited with her side to him, pushing her legs past his knees, rather than mounting him. The manoeuvre would’ve been much more practical, in fact. He thought about saying something about that: making a joke about their proximity, or her controlling the weather just so she had an excuse. It seemed too soon given their near-miss, and so instead the silence clung between them as the steering wheel forced her further onto his lap.

“Tony..”

“Hm?”

“The door. I can’t-” Ziva’s hand snaked its way down the side of his thigh towards the door handle, fumbling, and Tony moved his own to open it. Her fingers ended up underneath his as he pulled and he felt rather than heard her intake of breath.

With the door open, Ziva turned again, breaking the moment for the purposes of actually achieving her goal. She bought her knee almost up into his face as she drew her trailing leg over him.

He heard her feet land on the ground and he cursed himself for allowing the tension to teeter just on the brink of unbearable as she climbed off his lap, exposing him to the cold wind from outside.

Once stood, she turned back to face him and bent down towards him.

“What?”

Her eyes were still dark and swimming with something Tony wasn’t sure he could name. “Tell Ranger Martinez we would like a ride down to the scene.”

The contrast between her expression and the words made Tony chuckle, and he saw Ziva doing the same as she stood up.

“Right. Sure. Coming up.”

He stepped out of the car after her, head swimming as he watched her throw him an amused look over her shoulder as she jogged down the hill.


End file.
